Christmas Tree Recycling – Thanet

Our hospice elves are excited to be branching out into areas within Thanet for the first time. We are busy planning our brand new collections in Westgate-on-Sea, Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate.

The Tree Recycling doorstep collections are new to Thanet this festive season and we hope our community supports their local hospice by donating and booking their tree in for collection.

Karen Kenward, Pilgrims Hospices Thanet Community Fundraising Manager

Registration (closed)

You must register your tree for collection by midnight on Monday 3rd January 2022. Our capacity for registrations in our first year is 300 online bookings. If capacity is reached prior to Monday 3rd January registrations will be closed. This is to allow our team to carefully plan the extensive dedicated collection routes, no late bookings can be accepted. We encourage you to book your tree for collection as soon as possible.

Please note:

• Collections will take place between Saturday 8th and Tuesday 11th January 2021 from 7:30 - 16:00.
• All trees must be left in a clearly visible and safely accessible place at your property.
• Our volunteers will be working hard to collect the trees in a new area, so when booking please give an accurate description of the location that you intend to leave your tree.
• Any trees over 8ft tall or 4ft wide will need to be chopped in advance.
• Please let us know when booking if you have more than one tree (maximum of 2 trees per household).
• Trees with decorations, in bases or pots will not be collected, as these cannot be recycled with the trees. Please make sure only the tree is left out for collection. Trees must be left at the exterior of the front of your property and please do not block public access.

Tree recycling is operated as a free service by Pilgrims Hospices. Please show your appreciation by giving generously to support Pilgrims Hospices to be able to be there for the next family who needs our specialist care and support.

Register your tree today!

Click on the following postcode links to check whether your address is within our collection areas of CT8, CT9, CT10 and CT11.

Please note: images were taken prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 measures for collections

To ensure that our Christmas tree collections keep both you and our team safe, the scheme operates employs a series of COVID-19 mitigation measures.

These measures include:

• Collections take place over 4 days to allow for reduced crew members.
• Our team will be working in family units, bubbles and safe team formats. All crew members not in a family bubble will be encouraged to wear a face covering, use hand sanitiser regularly and follow strict measures, including lateral flow testing prior to the collections.
• Trees must be left in an easy to collect location at the exterior of the front of your property and please do not block public access.

Pilgrims Hospices will continue to monitor government guidance regarding any potential impact to the event relating to restrictions. The event will be operated in a safe format throughout. We are working closely with KCC, local councils, recycling centres and private landowners regarding the safe operation. We will continue to update you should there be any changes to the proposed operation.

How your donation could help

This Christmas, your kind support could help local people who are living with a life-limiting illness.

• £12 could pay for a patient's Christmas dinner.
• £15 could give a complementary therapy session to a patient, relieving anxiety.
• £20 could provide for a physiotherapy session to help patients stay active and enjoy festive games with their family on Christmas day.
• £30 could pay for our Community Team to hold a video consultation with a patient in their own home.
• £45 could pay for one-on-one counselling for someone struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one this festive season.
• £100 could allow our community nurses to continue making home visits, ensuring that patients can spend Christmas at home with family and friends.

How are the Christmas trees recycled and how is the money raised?

This campaign in the Ashford Borough Council is celebrating its 10th-year milestone and has raised an incredible £125,000 to support the vital care of patients facing incurable illness in east Kent. Each year Pilgrims volunteers collect over 1,350 real Christmas trees and in 2019 raised in excess of £21,000 thanks to kind donations. We are only able to raise this through our community giving generously when registering online. Now we're thrilled to be branching out in the Thanet area for the first time.

The tale of the collected trees is that they are picked up on specially planned rounds by our volunteer elves and taken to a local Household Waste & Recycling Centre, with the support of Kent County Council and FCC Environment. From there, they are taken to specialist recycling farms, Blaise Farm in West Malling and Hope Farm in Capel-le-Ferne where they are composted within a covered building system and turned into two grades of compost that are produced, these are a 20mm grade used for agricultural purposes and a 10mm grade used as a soil improver for general composting and landscaping uses. What’s even better is that, whilst helping to support the charity, you will be reducing your environmental impact too. Some of our trees are also chipped and used for composts locally, some are used for horse jumps at an equestrian centre and others are chipped and donated to an animal rescue centre. So, as you can see, your tree’s onward journey is far more valuable than just being put out after Christmas.

Companies pledge support

Special thanks to our partners Kent County Council and FCC Environment, and Thanet District Council for supporting the initiative.

Thank you so much for your support

Every generous donation from our amazing community of supporters helps to make sure we can be there for the next family who needs us.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with a life limiting illness, find out about the full range of services Pilgrims can offer.

Why not embrace the spirit of Christmas even more with our other festive fundraising activities:

• Santas on the Run! Tri-Series: A 3k or 5k festive fun run for the whole family to enjoy in Herne Bay, Folkestone and Margate.
• Letters from Santa: Request a beautifully illustrated and personalised Letter from Santa for a loved one, in return for a donation.
• Christmas e-cards: View our fantastic range of festive e-card designs and donate the cost of cards and stamps this year.